The Jacksonville Jaguars headed into Sunday’s Week 4 game at 0-3 and in need of a win. They didn’t get it, losing 24-20 to the Houston Texans. Following the game, coach Doug Pederson had some interesting comments in his press conference.
Jacksonville is the NFL’s only NFL team (though the 0-3 Tennessee Titans could join them on Monday). That’s far below the team’s internal expectations. In June, quarterback Trevor Lawrence said that the 2024 team was the best Jaguars team of his career. More recently, owner Shad Khan said ( H/T Grant Gordon, NFL.com ) that “winning now is the expectation” for Jacksonville and added, “Make no mistake, this is the best team assembled by the Jacksonville Jaguars, ever.”
Knowing the expectations, it’s certainly fair to wonder about Pederson’s job security — or lack thereof — following an 0-4 start. But when Pederson was asked about his job status following the game, he didn’t seem to even understand why it was asked.
“My status?” he asked . “I mean, no. That’s kind of a strange question, but OK.”
All things considered, that’s an odd response. But if it was just that, it wouldn’t be too earth-shattering. Dismissing questions about job security is part of the handbook for coaches of underperforming teams. Pederson is far from the first to do that and will not be the last.
But it didn’t stop there.
Pederson was also asked if he would consider taking play-calling duties over from Press Taylor.
“For what? I thought he called a great game,” Pederson said.
That response was notable because, as was noted on the X (formerly Twitter) page of 1010 XL/92.5 FM X – the team’s flagship – Pederson had yet to publicly acknowledge that Taylor was calling plays. And there was more to his response.
While Peterson’s response to the question about his job status might be defined as standard coachspeak, the rest of his response about the play-calling was anything but as the coach made it clear that the players were falling short.
“As coaches, we can’t go out there and make the plays,” he said. “Right? It’s a two-way street.”
The rest of his response was more in line with what is normally said in such situations.
“So, you know, you guys can sit here and point the finger all you want. That’s fine. Point it right at me. I can take it, OK? I can take it. So whatever you wanna ask me, say, whatever, write, go ahead.”
Pederson became Jacksonville’s coach in 2022, taking over a team that had the league’s worst record in both 2020 and 2021.
After a 4-8 start in 2022, the Jags won their final five regular season games to win the AFC South, then posted a come-from-behind victory against the Los Angeles Chargers on Wild Card Weekend before falling 27-20 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round.
The Jags also went 9-8 in 2023 but the season had a much different feel. Jacksonville started 8-3 that year, but dropped all but one of the season’s final six games and missed the playoffs. So, if anyone knows how dramatically a season can go around, it’s the Jaguars. On the other hand, the team is now 1-9 over its last 10 games, mirroring the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
It’s reasonable to assume that things need to be fixed quickly – regardless of who’s most to blame for the team’s poor record.
[Ari Meirov on X , 1010 XL/92.5 FM X on X , Photo Credit: Jacksonville Jaguars on YouTube ]
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